1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to computer and communication systems and, more particularly, to callback services arranged over a data network, such as the Internet.
2. Description of Related Art
The cost of an international telephone call between two countries can differ based on where the call originates. Callback services take advantage of this price difference by allowing a customer to place an international telephone call by arranging to have it originate in the destination country. For example, a telephone call originating in Argentina and calling a phone number in the United States will typically cost more than the same telephone connection originating in the United States. Therefore, an Argentine customer may use a callback service that allows the call from Argentina to originate in the United States. The Argentine customer will place a call to a callback system's phone number in the United States. The customer hangs up the phone on the first ring, thus incurring no charge. The callback system places a call to the customers number and provides the customer with a dial tone, which connects the customer to a United States long distance carrier.
The Problems
Currently, callback services experience at least three problems. The first problem is that the public telephone company in the customer's country may try to block access to the callback service. Some countries have attempted to block access to certain phone numbers associated with callback services. In some areas this approach has even extended to the blocking of entire area codes and local office prefixes. Another approach attempts to block the touch-tone signals required for the callback service.
A second problem is that the user interface provided by the callback service is not user friendly. A typical callback service typically requires the user to enter a long stream of digits into the phone keypad.
The third problem is that in some countries the customer may be charged for the initial call to the callback service.